These are the best loaded baked beans and are hearty, full of flavor and packed with ingredients like ground beef, bacon, onion and bell peppers. Not only that but you can dump everything into a cast iron skillet, stir and cook! It's the ultimate side dish that eats like a main course!
Also shout out to my sister for the inspiration for this recipe. She first introduced them to me one Thanksgiving and I haven't stopped thinking about them since!
Ingredients you will need:
Baked beans
Ground beef
Smoked sausage
Slices of Bacon diced
Diced Green bell pepper
Diced yellow onion
Maple syrup
Dark Brown sugar
Salt, pepper and garlic powder
Bbq seasoning
Why I like this recipe
Anytime I'm cooking I try to think of ways to make recipes easier without sacrificing flavor. The beauty of these loaded baked beans is I can put all of the ingredients into one pan and cook everything together.
Not only that but these are always a hit when I serve them up to my friends and family. There's nothing like this hearty side dish!
How to make the best loaded baked beans
The only thing you need to cook separately is the ground beef. In a large cast iron pan on medium heat, cook your ground beef, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder then drain the excess grease and set aside.
While that is cooking, dice your green peppers, onion, bacon, and slice the smoked sausage. There are no hot dogs here!
Then simply dump everything into the cast iron pan that you cooked the ground beef in. If you don't have a skillet or want to save on clean up, you can also use a disposable foil pan.
After you have placed all of the ingredients together, add maple syrup, brown sugar, and bbq seasoning. Use your favorite bbq seasoning or try my homemade bbq seasoning.
Give everything a good stir to combine and then add a half cup of water just to make sure the beans are not too thick.
As everything cooks down the other ingredients will release some moisture and help everything come together.
I like to place the pan into my smoker at 225 degrees for 1 hour to get nice and smokey and then increase the temperature to 350 for another 30-40 minutes to finish cooking.
If you don't have a smoker, don't worry just place them into your oven at 350 for about 40 minutes. You may need to stir once or twice during the cooking process.
Once the bacon is cooked through and the vegetables are soft you are ready to go!
This is a great recipe and is the perfect way to serve up a plate full of hearty baked beans. Bring this one to your next cookout or to the dinner table and it will be a family favorite.
How to store
If cooking in a foil pan or cast iron pan you can just cover it with aluminum foil and refrigerate for 3-4 days. The beans actually taste better the next day! Or you can place them in an airtight container and store for up to a week.
Variations to try
Spice it up: If you want to spice up this dish, add some fresh sliced jalapeños, chorizo, or a few dashes of hot sauce.
Serve over rice: Make it more like a main dish by serving the beans over rice. It's a delish idea!
Serve these easy loaded baked beans with these recipes:
FAQS:
Should you rinse canned baked beans?
You do not have to rinse these beans. In fact we want all of the good stuff in that can to go along with the additional ingredients we are adding.
Do I have to use a smoker?
I like the addition of smoke to these loaded baked beans but you can definitely use your oven or even a slow cooker and let them simmer on low heat for hours before serving.
What else can I do to enhance baked beans?
Be creative with your dish and feel free to add other ingredients to make it your own. You could always thicken these beans up with bbq sauce and some yellow mustard, add a little depth of flavor with Worcestershire sauce or infuse a little tang with apple cider vinegar.
The best loaded baked beans
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 28 ozs canned baked beans (I used Bush's)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup of smoked sausage sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- ½ pound bacon diced
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon bbq seasoning
Instructions
- In a large cast iron pan brown your ground beef and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain the excess grease and set aside.
- Prep the remaining ingredients by slicing the smoked sausage and dicing the onion, green bell pepper, and bacon.
- In the same cast iron pan add the remaining ingredients you just prepped along with the canned baked beans, maple syrup, light brown sugar, bbq seasoning and water. Stir to combine well.
- Place cast iron pan in your smoker at 225°F for one hour then increase the temperature to 350° for the last 30-40 minutes. Stir occasionally during the cooking process. (If cooking in an oven, cook for 30-40 minutes at 350°F)
- Remove cast iron pan from smoker (or oven) stir one more time and serve.
Notes
* If beans look too dried out after cooking stir in more water and mix to combine until desired consistency.
- Category: Side
Laura Lewis says
Definitely amazing and hearty meal!
Wayne Schlee says
Just made a batch. I added a teaspoon of liquid smoke,teaspoon of lemon pepper salt,sliced jalapeños,sliced yellow bell pepper,touch of sea salt,tablespoon of Worcester sauce,Two pounds browned hamburger, two rolls of polish kielbasa, three large cans of pork and beans,1 small can of black beans and 1 small can of white beans. Put in slow cooker on high for 3hrs. Cubed up 1 large sweet onion put in Tupperware (some of my friends don't like onions) can add them if you like and a large bag of shredded mild cheese to add if wanted. Should serve 10 to 12 of my buddies tonight at our Tuesday night get together.
Jordan Hanger says
Sounds amazing Wayne. Love the you were able to modify the recipe to your own liking. Glad it came out well.
Anonymous says
Peter Charlton says
Great recipe as is, but here in Australia I went for Fully Loaded.
Beef mince 500g
Chorizo 2 sliced
Franks 8 long thin sliced
Diced onions 2
Diced bacon 400g
Mixed veg (carrot corn peas) 2 cups
Brown sugar 1/2 cup
Garlic powder salt and pepper
Honey 1/2 cup
Stubb bbq sauce 1/2 cup
Worcestershire and soy sauce 1/4 cup
2 tins watties banked beans drained of juice
Smoked at 100*c for 2 hours
Then covered at 180*c for 30min
The family loved it. Fully loaded.
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Melinda says
I made this recipe for my family and it was such a big hit ! There were no leftovers! Everyone had something good to say about how great they tasted ! It was easy to follow recipe and execute ! Love love love !! Thank you for it !
Jordan Hanger says
Thanks Melinda! Glad it was such a huge success with your family! Love to hear that.
Cody M says
I made this without the ground beef. Absolutely incredible and I will be making again.
Jordan Hanger says
Thanks Cody!
Mark Reese says
I’m not a big baked beans fan but this recipe is fantastic. Easy to follow and something I would do again.
Jordan Hanger says
Thanks Mark!
Spencer Hall says
We followed this recipe and paired with the party Ribs. Excellent Mother’s Day dinner choice. The sausage and ground beef made this dish a meat and bean lover’s favorite. We will do this one again soon.
Jordan Hanger says
One of my favorites too. Thank you!
Lori H says
What is the carb and calorie count on this meal?
Jordan Hanger says
Hey Lori most of the carbs will be from the bbq sauce, brown sugar and beans. We are working on getting nutritional values on our recipes. Thanks.
Zeke says
Excellent recipe! Adding pineapple chunks next time.
Jordan Hanger says
Sounds great!
Ric Rowe says
Jordan-
I like your recipe. It's similar to one I've created over the years, so plan to try your recipe to see if I should make two styles of beans at my next BBQ. First time, I'll make it your way, though if it needs additional liquid, will use some Wee Heavenly Scots Ale (or Scotch Ale, if you prefer) by Hand of Fate Brewing Company of Petersburg, Illinois. I've used it for years in providing needed liquid in my baked beans and my Texas style Chili (ergo, beanless). So, thank you for the new twist on an old favorite. You might wish to try adding in some chopped brisket/burnt ends instead of the sausage for an additional twist, or not. You know how it goes, we foodies are always playing with proven recipes.
Anyway, thank you.
-Ric Rowe
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jordan Hanger says
Chop brisket and ale sound like an amazing addition! We are always playing with our food thats for sure.